Life

The Program of International Feminist Forum Declared

The program International Feminist Forum coordinated by Kaos GL Association has been finalized.

A two-day meeting “International Feminist Forum” will be held on 10-11th of March, at weekend, in Ankara.

Feminist and LGBT organisations are invited to the Forum and the participants from Lebanon, France, Sweden and Iran will make a speech one after another in the Forum.

All activities in International Feminist Forum which will be held in Ankara University Cebeci Campus, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Art House will be open to everyone. There will be simultaneous translation on the first day.

INTERNATIONAL FEMINIST FORUM

Kaos GL

10-11TH OF MARCH, 2012-SATURDAY-SUNDAY

Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Art House, Cebeci Campus, Ankara University

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

OPENNING-10:30 am

Assoc.Prof. Dr Betül Yarar, Gazi University Faculty of Communication

Prof. Dr. Simten Coşar, Member of Kaos GL Advisory Committee & Başkent University Department of Political Science and International Relations

FIRST SESSION-11:00am-12:30pm

“Homosexual and Muslim-Liberation and Secularism Between Islamophobia and Homophobia”

How do feminisms see trans existence? Is trans-feminism possible? Feminism or Queer Comradeliness? While discussing biological sex and gender, when it comes to trans individuals may we forget that gender is a construct? Is women solidarity a biological sisterhood of heterosexual, middle class, educated, white and turkish women? How can we proliferate our lifes through comradeliness?

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

COMRADE FORUM-12:00-13:30pm

Moderator: İlknur Üstün

Although feminist struggle seems active in some areas, we are subject to a Picture like that almost all parts of the struggle withdraw into its own “home”/environment. What kind of possibilities can we explore by taking a fresh look at organisatonal and ideological relationships between Feminists and LGBTs?

Can The Feminist/women movement become successful in its struggle against sexism without developing a discourse and practice of anti-homophobia and anti-transphobia?

How can we develop a local and global feminist perspective against rising conservatism?

While our societies becoming conservative day by day, We are coming together to overlook what and how we are doing and where we stand.

LESBIAN WORKSHOP-14:00-15:30pm

Moderator: Zehra Tosun, Kaos GL Association

How is it possible that we evaluate gender issue not only through woman-man relationship but also through sexual orientation and gender identity? Through which paths homosexual and bisexual women’s experiences go? How and where we confront with blind street? Why the problems of homosexual and bisexual womens are condemn to invisibility in the agenda of LGBT Movement? What is the place of the problems of homosexual and bisexual womens in feminist movement’s agenda? Is the state of being homosexual or bisexual woman known but is it unnamed? What happens when it is named? Or is it us who trivializes “the love women to women”? Beyond the discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, how do we describe our problems as problems originating from the system? What does it mean that you are always counted as “something you are not”? What does society say, what do I feel? What do I encounter when I said I do not want to be in this construction? Is it possible to make a separation between sexual orientation and gender identity? What do we feel if we are individually visible or individually invisible and if we are socially visible or invisible? “What does it matter, becoming visible or invisible?” Yes, we want to discuss on where and what we experience or we do not…

WORKSHOP ON MASCULINITY- 16:00-17:30 pm

Moderator: Remzi Altunpolat, Kaos GL Association

The discussions on gender in Turkey generally go on women and the states of womanhood. However, to create a comprehensive framework it is necessary to address masculinity and states of masculinity which is dominant in the gender matrix. When we look at the course of feminist researches in Turkey we see that masculinity was a neglected area. Nevertheless, particularly as a result of the moves of LGBT movement that is questioning heteropatriarchy and inviting the researchers to think about the existence of different masculinities, it has gradually become an issue on which talked about more.

From the day one it was established as a political subject, Kaos GL has been decisive on building a line focusing on the intersection points and common struggle practices between women and LGBTs which are the categories excluded, subordinated and subjugated by masculine system. Therefore, Kaos GL determined masculinity as one of the themes of International Feminist Forum which will be held on 10-11th of March and it booked this session for this subject. We invite everyone who says “yes I have a problem with masculinity” to contribute to this session for creating cracks in the masculine structure surrounding us.